Justin Bieber barred from China over his ‘bad behaviour’

Canadian pop star Justin Bieber has been barred from performing in China over his “bad behaviour,” the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture said in a recent posting on its website.

“Justin Bieber is a talented, but also a controversial young foreign singer,” the bureau wrote in response to a question from a user of its website as to why Bieber’s upcoming tour of Asia has no dates in China.

“It is understood that as a public figure, he had a series of bad behaviour in his social life abroad and in the domestic performance activities he caused public dissatisfaction … it is not appropriate to introduce bad behaviour to the performing arts [in China],” it said.

The bureau said it wanted to “clean up” performances in China. However, it did offer a glimmer of hope to the once troubled teen sensation: “We hope that Justin Bieber in the process of maturing his own words and deeds can truly become a favourite singer of the public.”

Bieber did tour China in 2013, performing in Beijing, Dalian and Shanghai. Less than a year later, he angered Chinese fans and officials when he posted photos of himself visiting a controversial shrine in Japan that Beijing and Seoul say honours war criminals.

China bans many Western artists from performing, mostly based on political statements it disapproves of in support of the Dalai Lama or Tibetan independence, or criticising China’s human rights record.